August 12, 2026
Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
or Optional Memorial of Saint Joan Frances de Chantal
Gospel: Matthew 18:15–20

Today is Wednesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of Saint Joan Frances de Chantal. According to the recently published Roman Missal, Saint Joan Frances de Chantal (1572–1641) was born in Dijon, France. Happily married, she bore four children. After her husband was killed in a hunting accident, she discerned her vocation under the guidance of her spiritual director, Saint Francis de Sales. Nine years after her widowhood, they co-founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (V.H.M.), dedicated to works of charity among the sick and the poor.

The Gospel passage from Saint Matthew presents Jesus’ teaching on fraternal correction. I would like to offer some reflections on this text.

In our daily lives, we often find ourselves at odds with others over various matters, sometimes even breaking fellowship over trivial disputes. This is because we follow the logic of this world logic centered on self-interest, prioritizing personal gain, and seeking to triumph over others by any means. Hatred and unrest are the permanent logic of this world. The root cause of such hatred and anxiety is sin. Sin enslaves us and leaves the heart feeling empty; consequently, we seek to possess everything to secure a sense of safety by dominating others.

Today, Jesus instructs us: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him about his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. And if he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (cf. Mt 18:15–18).

In these words, we perceive the logic of God’s kingdom. The world Jesus proposes is one filled with mercy and love. It is the world of a God who loves not only the faithful but also those who sin against Him. In his homily for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly, Pope Leo XIV stated: “God loves us just as He loves Himself. The Father’s love for us is no less than His love for His Only Begotten Son. In other words, God’s love is infinite. It knows no discount, for He loved us first and loved us from the very beginning!” This perfectly aligns with Jesus’ teaching today. He calls us to propagate a love that is voluntary, spontaneous, and non-coercive. He urges us to take the initiative in reconciling with those with whom we disagree.

We might be tempted to interpret Jesus’ words— “If he refuses to listen even to the Church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector”—to mean that once all means of reconciliation have been exhausted, and even the Church, following the Savior’s teaching and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, has striven to restore communion with those who cause division or opposition, she must then sever ties with them. However, this is not Christ’s intent. Rather than demanding a clean break, Jesus commands the Church to spend more time in prayer for those wayward children. Through the Church’s penitential prayer, they may come to see God’s mercy and love and thus be moved to initiate reconciliation with the Church and the world.

On this Optional Memorial of Saint Joan Frances de Chantal, let us pray:

O God, who made Saint Jane Frances de Chantel
radiant with outstanding merits in different walks of life,
grant us, through her intercession,
that, walking faithfully in our vocation,
we may constantly be examples of shining light.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica